Alkylation process



Feb. 15s, 1958 H. M. KNlGHT ET AL 2,824,150

ALKYLATION PROCESS Filed April 30, 1956 INVENTORS Jae T Kelly Harmon M. Knig/hf BY Md 9% ATTORNEY United States Patent ALKYLATION PROCESS Harmon M. Knight, La Marque, and Joe T. Kelly, Dickinson, Tex., assignors to The American Oil Company, Texas City, Tex., a corporation of Texas Application April 30, 1956, Serial No. 581,496

16 Claims. (Cl. 260-68344) This invention relates to the reaction of isoparaffins or aromatic hydrocarbons and olefins. More particularly it relates to the alkylation of isobutane with ethylene.

In the petroleum industry today, the octanerace has placed a strain on facilities and materials needed to make An object of the invention is the alkylation of isoparaf fins, particularly isobutane, with olefins, particularly ethylcue. Another object is the alkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons with olefins. Other objects will become apparent in the course of the detailed description.

The alkylation of isoparafiins or aromatic hydrocar bons with olefins is carried out in the presence of a novel catalyst pair. One member of the catalyst pair is boron trifiuoride. The other member of the catalyst pair is a metal sulfate hydrate, that is, a metal sulfate salt containing water of hydration. Although the second component of the catalyst pair is spoken of as a metal sulfate hydrate, it is believed that the solid member is more properly a complex of the hereinafter defined metal sul fate hydrate and BF;,; the BF is believed to complex with some or all of the hydrate water present in the metal sulfate hydrate salt. More than the amount of BF needed to complex the water of hydration is necessary to obtain the desired catalytic effect.

Boron trifiuoride is one member of the catalyst pair. Commercial grade anhydrous HE; is suitable for use as one member of the catalyst pair.

The other member of the catalyst pair, hereinafter spoken of as the solid member, is a metal sulfate hydrate, i. e., a metal sulfate salt containing water of hydration. The salt may be used as a fine powder, as pellets, or may be supported on a solid carrier such as alumina, charcoal, silica gel, silicon carbide, etc. Not all metal sulfates 2,824,150 Patented Feb. 18, 1958 ice ually approaches a constant value. It appears that a very rapid reaction between the BF and some of the water of hydration takes place. This initially rapid reaction is then followed by a relatively slow reaction between the remaining molecules of hydrate water and additional BF It appears that when the salt hydrate is exposed to B1 even in the presence of hydrocarbon reactants, eventually all of the water of hydration will become associated with 131 on about a 1 mole of BF}, per mole of hydrate water basis.

Acomplex of the defined salt hydrate and BF is not an effective catalyst for the alkylation in the absence of free-8P Free-B1 is to be understood as BF existing in the reaction zone which is not complexed with the defined metal salt-hydrate. As soon as the salt hydrate has complexed with some BF the beneficial catalytic effect exists.

hydrate, eventually no alkylation will occur as charge is aside-o1. since allot the BF3 will become complexed. 7

In general, the process is carried out utilizing an amount of 5P which is in excess of that required to complex with all the hydrate water present in the contacting zone,

namely, in excess of about lmole of B1 per mole of hydrate water present. More than the minimum amount of free-Br is beneficial, in fact, the yield of alkylate increases rapidly with increase in free-B1 present, up to a maximum amount. The amount of free-B1 used is dependent somewhat upon the reactants themselves. However, when reacting isoparaffins and olefins, the free- BF usage is desirably, set out on a BF to olefin weight ratio, of at least about 0.2. In other words, at least about 0.2 lb. of free-BB per lb. of olefin charged to the alkylation zone is desirable. About 1.5 parts by weight of tree-BE, per part of olefin charged appears to be about the desirable maximum usage of B1 It is preferred to use between about 0.35 and 1 part by weight of free-BF,

per part by weight of olefin when utilizing the lower I molecular weight olefins, such as ethylene and propylene.

- even lower.

which contain water of hydration are suitable nor are all metal ions suitable. The particular metal ion components of the sulfate salt hydrates are beryllium, cadmium, cerous, magnesium and vanadyl; a mixture of rare earths is also suitable. In determining the effective members, it has been considered that the catalyst pairs which did not producea yield, on a weight percent basis on ethylene charged, when isobutane and ethylene were contacted, of 100% or more, were unsuitable.

It is necessary that the above-defined metal sulfate salts contain hydrate water. The anhydrous salts do not have any promotional effect on the activity of BF;. In those cases wherein a salt may exist in forms having various amounts of water of hydration present, it is not necessary that any particular hydrate be used. Apparently it is necessary only that some water of hydration be present.

The BF and the defined salt react to form asolid material containing complexed BF When the salt hydrate and BE, are contacted in a closed vessel, the BF,

partial pressure drops very rapidly at fitt nd that! ared The process may be carried out at any temperature below the temperature at which the salthy'drate decomposes, that is, loss of all its water of hydration. The temperatures of operation may be as low as -20 C. or Temperatures as high as 150 C. and even higher may be used with some of the salt hydrates which have relatively high decomposition temperatures. More usually the temperature of operation will be between about 0 C. and 100 C. Lower temperatures appear to favor the formation of the hydrocarbons having 6 to 7 carbon atoms. It is preferred to operate at a tempera ture between about 25 C. and 40 C. i

Sufiicient pressure is maintained on the system to keep a substantial portion of the hydrocarbons charged in the 9 liquidstate. The process may be carried out at relatively 3 600 p. s. i. i

has been formed.

The contacting of the isoparafiin or aromatic hydrocarhon and the olefin in the presence of the defined catalyst pair is continued until an appreciable amount of alkylate In batch reactions, it is possible to virtually extinguish the olefin, i. e., convert essentially of the olefin by a sufficiently long period of contacting. When operating in a continuous flow system, it may be desirable to have a time of contacting such that subs aatiala qunts 0t olefin are no converte an ob tain the complete conversion of the olefin by a recycle operation. 'The time of reaction will be determined by the type of hydrocarbons charged, the ratio of isoparafiin or aromatic to olefin, the degree of mixing in the contacting zone and the c atalystusagefiA fewtests' will'enable one to determine the optimum time of contacting for the particular system of operating conditions being ,tried.

Thereactants in the hydrocarbon merge; to thealkylation process are isoparaffin, or arphmiaaad olefin: The olefin contains from 2 to about lZcarbon atoms. Examples of suitable olefins are ethylene, propylene bu t ene-il, hexe ne and octenej in addition to these, the olefin polymers obtained from propylene and/or h ty lene are else s i b rh n he .etees sflsuh as sasthhe p py hl it hhe v h leh' t tt e ehd hht lehel ih ris ei fer o fe e' et with ethy en Q PFPPY P E he s en -sh hv 'r erh hs 1 1W he lkyla h hy he P ehta eleh h eh t ssel -ev fie tthe? P3 .1. e rbeh' w i e te hs al ylsuh htheht res e so that st hihl h' .Wehhl e jeh e t eefi y the l es ihi i lb elkylht eh .t h Zthe ns ti hle should he h sshieeted to th nreeess- Exam les 9 P t ehla y it bl ereth t .hye eea he e b nze e te h he u ehie .himeth h hz he and the ether .elky a a ues tsheh a .PE PYI fe d hau th .hephth' sh he .h shee he s sheh a th 1 20.4 .15 sphstithte hse hx enhth z ehes- The is ae' sthhree snt fih de a ra aflih hyd oeerhe whiehhas ter a .hvd e et me issffihs wh eh ve a hy re arbo to at a he t e te ehtbfinh h'e mples hesee se t n ..i. etee thlslh lhl thhel -m lpehta -me hylhexan 13-. sane ,.2. 3- d .m et hut he (d -i epw y and 2 h l e hhe. hst parefiihsh a o reeeteht i s e-pree ss on n e r to 8 a o atom II the seperafiihrelefi s s em th al via io ,tea t n l hhw ievq ed a t mo e t t o sopar fl top efi increases. In general, the isoparaffin toolefin mole ratio in the hydrocarbon charge should be at least 1. More th n l mo ti oo a i is d a le -have an isoparaflin to .olefin ratio between about 2 and 25 and in some ,casesmore; for example, as much as 50. his P ef e t oper with a i pa aflin to olefin .mole ratio ofbetweenahout 5 and 15.

T pr enc .o inonrrea tiv hyd carbo .in the hy o arb n ch g snotdetriment l unl th re tan s becomeexcessivelydiluted. For,exampl,e, the isoparatfin may also contain isomers of the normal configuration. The olefins may contain parafiins of .the .samecarbon number. Mixtures of .two ormore isoparaflinsor 1W0 or mo e aromatic hydroearbonssortwo.or more olefins may be charged. in general, \when aparticular product distribution is desired, .it is preferable to ,operate with a single .isoparafiin anda single olefin, .for example, technical grade ,isobutane. and ethylene,. both of about 95%purity.

The reactants may be mixedtogetherhefote they are charged into i thereactor. Or, tthey ,Imay, b e charged ;into the reactor rseparately. .Or, a. portion .ofitheplcfinmay: be blended ,withthe isoparaifimor aromaticzbefore .introdllP- tion into the ,reactorand .the remainder of, the olefininjeetedintptthe-reactor. -;Th,e, charge may: he introducedan at one, point into the reactor, or it ornay. be introduced at two, ormore, points. ,The alkylatiop reaction is, somewhat.

exothermic and temperature control is facilitated by,in:

e blended with the isoparaflin eaetaut ahd int'foducd into ...st l a. n

the reactor with this member when the isoparaffin and the olefins are being introduced separately. The BF may also be introduced directly into the reaction zone independently from the hydrocarbons charged. The BF; may be introduced into the reactor at a single point or at several points to help control temperature and reaction rate.

The reactor may be a vessel providing for a batcht ype reaction, .i. .e., one wherein the desired amount of i i h m i 1 i .11.. hes'h'cbhtziidid g ews: Ipaifa'rid the vessel then maintained at the desired temperature for the desired time. 'At the end o f' this time, thehydrocarb'on' product mixture and unre aotedntalfli als are withdrawn from the vessel and processed to separate the alkylate product from the unreacted materials and lower and higher molecular weight materialsl' "The acftor riiay be a fixed bed opera tion wherein the reactants and free-3P are awed through the lied of the hydratesalt member of the catalyst pair, the space velocity .being'controlled so that the atmou'nt of reaction is obtained during the passage of the reactants through the bed of hydrate salt. Under'some' conditions, fa moving'bed of hydrate salt maybe utilized. 11 n stillanother set'of circumstances, a fluidized bed of hydrate salt may be utilized with the incoming stream of reactants providing the energy for the of theIs lid ihydrate'saltL" Other methods of operation common in the catalytic refining aspects of the petroleum industry 'utiliz'irig .s olid'catalyst may be readily devised. i i

I t has been pointed out-that the solid member of the catalyst pair is really la' 'complex of the me'tal Isal't hydrate and Lthe BB p'l aren'tly reacting with the water of hydration. The complex may be preformed,"by exposing the s'alt hydrate -to BFQ' for a time sufficient to introduce some B'Fg'into the solid component or even .en g h to complex allofthe'lwater of hydrationj. this be g done beforle'lthe reactants' are introduced into the reaction z neqr eyfen before thelsolid member 'of the catalyst. pair: ispos'itio'ned in :the ractionzone. The comp ex maybe/for d 'inl sit'u duriaga batch-type rac tion. In the Hatch-type opei atioil,i'it isfcohveriie'nt to introduce all'the BF 'intoftlie'reactidnyesselTat once; This similar or BF is sufi'icint not only to 'cbrriplei with the water of hydration but ,also provide thi desired amount of free- .In flowisy s'tem,jthe'fsolid member may be pre pared in situ by charging fresh hydrate salt to thereactiou z one and forming the ,coiripl'ex' during the initial passage of, BF Io ith'efsalt hydrate. Some alkylahoug'hthetsalt hydrate has not .co plexallfthe' lv vate rlof hydra; f reactant aag'nr, continues over the I v s altthydr ate willlb ecome sfatiinated wtth respect to iAt th is amount {if BF iintroduddjifitoltiie reaction zone should be I cut back". to tha' v am'ount".btIfr'ee-BF desired, under this partic a lset of operating agernes i TheIllustrative:embodiment set out in the annexed figure forni sfa part1off this specification. It is pointed out thatlthis embodiment isischematic in nature, that many of. process 'e'ciuipmenth ave been omitted, sincethese ma b readil m ed by those sk illed in this art and only one of many which may be in entionisnot to be limited to s p av s. 1.1 hti h se .1 li uid i e ut ffeth s u is passed by way of lines 16 and 17 into inixer 13. Both theethyleneand theisobutaneare,about 9 0% purity, the i butane andethane, with trace amounts i erials derived fioih liquid and a gas, or two liquids. Recycle isobutane from line 18 is passed by way of line 17 into mixer 13. In this embodiment, the molar ratio of isobutane to ethylene is 6.

From mixer 13, the blend of isobutane and ethylene is passed by way of line 19, through heat exchanger 21, where the temperature of the blend is adjusted to 30 C. The temperature of the blend leaving exchanger 21 is somewhat lower than the reaction temperature, since there is a heat rise in the reactor due to exothermic reaction. From exchanger 21, the stream of isobutane and ethylene is passed by way of lines 22 and 23 into the top of reactor 24.

Boron trifiuoride is passed from source 26 by way of valved line 27 and line 28 into line-23 where it meets the stream of isobutane and ethylene. If desirable, a mixer may be introduced into line 23 to insure complete intermingling of the BF;, and the hydrocarbon charged. Re-

cycle BF is introduced from line 29 by way of lines 28 and 23. In this embodiment, the salt hydrate is completely complexed with respect to BE; and only the necessary tree-B1 is introduced by way of line 28. The

weight ratio of free-BF, from line 28 to ethylene present in line 23 is 1.1.

Reactor 24 is shown as a shell and tube type vessel.

Hydrate salt is contained in the tubes 31. The alumina balls 32 and 33 are positioned above and below thehydrate was contacted with BE in an amount such that all of the water of hydration was complexed with BF This operation was carried out before reactants were intro duced into the reactor. The reactor pressure was maintained at 600 p. s. i. This permits maintaining the isobutane and substantially all of the ethylene in the liquid state.

The product hydro-carbon mixture is passed out of reactor 24 by way of line 41. This stream contains the alkylate product, unreacted isobutane, a small amount of unreacted ethylene and pentanes aswell as BF The stream from line 41 is passed into gas separator 42 where the BF isobutane, some pentanes and some alkylate prodnot are taken overhead by way of line 43. The material taken overhead from the separator 42 is passed into fractionator 44. p

Fractionator 44 is adapted to separate the BF as a gas, the isobutane as a liquid and the higher boiling materials as a bottoms product. Fractionator 44 is provided with an internal reboiler 46 and an internal condenser 47. BF and unreacted ethylene are taken overhead from fractionator 44 by way of line 48 and may be passed out of the system by way of valved line 49. The material from line 49 may be periodically passed to a BF purification operation to remove non-condensable inert gases which build up in the system. Ordinarily the stream from line 48 is recycled by way of valved lines 29 and lines 28 and 23 to reactor 24.

I Isobutane is withdrawn as a liquid stream by way of line 51 and is recycled by way of lines 18 and 17 to mixer 13 for reuse in the process. Bottoms product from fractionator 44 is withdrawn by way of line 52 and may be passed to storage or further processing by wayof valved line 53. This stream from line 52 consists-substantially .of'isopentane. Sorneunsaturated C hydrocarbons are alsopresent and also. asmall amount of higher boiling alkylatematerial.....

In order to maintain the temperature in the.

The liquids separated in gas separator 42 are pas'sed by way of line 56 into fractionator 57. The bottoms product from fractionator 44 may be passed by way of valved line 58 and line 56 into fractionator 57 for complete removal of the alkylate material. In. this embodiment, the bottoms are passed to fractionator' 57.

Fractionator 57 is provided with an internal reboiler 58 and is adapted to produce the desired alkylate products from the hydrocarbon product mixture entering from line 56. A vapor stream is taken overhead by way of line 61, is condensed in cooler 62 and is passed to storage by way of line 63. The material from line 63 consists substantially of isopentane and some unsaturated C material. This material may be used as a high octane blending stock for the production of motor gasoline of the desired volatilitycharacteristics.

The alkylate product herein is considered to be that boiling above the pentane range and boiling below the maximum temperature usable in motor gasoline. In general, a 415 F. endpoint alkylate is blendable into motor gasoline without adverse effect in a specification calling for a 400 F. gasoline endpoint. Thus the alkylate prod uct is considered to be the material boiling between about the lower limit of the hexane range and 415 F. in the ASTM distillation procedure.

A considerable difference exists between the octane number of the C fraction of the alkylate product and the higher boiling material. The C fraction, which boils from about 110 to 170 F., has an F-l octane number of 101. The Cq-PIUS material has an octane number which ranges between about and 85, depending some? What on the fractionation.

Light alkylate, which includes all the C material and some of the 0, material, is withdrawn from fractionator 51 by way of line 66. Heavy alkylate, which includes most of the C and material boiling up to 415 F. is with drawn from fractionator 57 by way of line 67. A small amount of higher boiling bottoms is withdrawn by way of line 68.

In general, the C fraction of the alkylate product will contain from about 86 to about 90 mole percent of di isopropyl (2,3-dimethylbutane). 2-methylpentane and 3-methylpentane represent substantially the remainder of the C product. Generally, only trace amounts of n-hexane are present.

The results obtainable by the process of the instant invention are set out in illustrative runs below. These-runs not only illustrate the type of metal sulfate hydrates-which are suitable but also illustrate the effects of change inoperating conditions.

In Tables I and I I, there are set out results in the test ing of various metal sulfate hydrates by means of batch operation. In these runs, the tests were carried out under what are more or less standard conditions, namely, a 4-liter carbon steel bomb was dried overnight in a stream of hot air at C. The sulfate to be tested (90 grams) was charged to the bomb as a powder and the bomb was evacuated. One kilogram of a dry blend of ethylene and isobutane was added and then BE, (90 grams) was pressured in. The charged bombs were placed in a rocker and allowed to rock for 20 hours. At the end ofthis time a liquid sample was drawn through a bomb containing activated alumina (to remove dissolved BE, and salt particles). This sample was submitted for Podbielniak distillation. A C cut from the Podbielniak distillation was analyzed by mass spectrometer. In some cases after sampling, the remaining major portion of the product was debutanized on an Oldershaw column and then fraction ated on a packed column.

In Table I, data are set out showing the. importance of water of hydration and also BF in the system. In No. 1, the operation was carried out as described above except that no salt was' present in'the bomb. The results show that only 34% of depentanized alkylate'prodtict was h .J .75 obtained by the use QQBF, alonc as the catalyst- R a No.

2,;carried $011 with ;cadmi sulfate in ,the.;anhydrous fOIm PI'OdUCCdJIO morcalkylateuthaudid .BF3 in the abis a Egoodmromoter. isa fair promoter.

TABLE 1 Presence of water ofihydration and BF;

m in) 2 I 3 4 Sulfate"; CdSOt -CdS O4.HO CdSO4.HaO

Conditions: v

Isobutane/l3)thylene (u10lar) 2 4 3, 7 2.3 H ydrocarhrm/Salt (weight) 10.8 =11; 6 10. 7 iB Fz/Ethylene (weight). 0.7 1.0 None .Time ours ,20 20 20 Temperature. C 25-35 25-35 "-25-35 'Pressure (Range),-p;-s.i. g .31 318190 19 5-220 Results: Alkylate (Depentanized) =(wt.

percentJ- N I Hexanes. .4 -21 '4 i 104 .Crplus 13 26 1l 2 Total -1 34 '30 v216 .Ethylene Converted, PerpeuLQ "87 3 I Podbielniak and mass 0ven dried at 200-260 sget'trolueter aualyses; based on ethylene charged. 4

. to remove hydrate water. 1

l 88% 2,3-dlmethylputaue.

TABLEII Various sulfate hydrates RuilNo :5 6 s e 10 1 i1 12 1a 14 15 Metal loniPresent Alumi- ..Beryl- Cal- Cerous Qerrlc Qqbalt Qhro- Copper f .Ferrous, Ferric Moles oiWater of. Hydration- 5 .2 1 1 2 a-ij 3 1f 6 1 1 Ethylene Converted Pen t :cent.-. 63 93 87 58 .96. 78; 42 5 8 41 43 Alkylate r -Isopentaue..' 11

Hexanes 2s 99 104 24 T12 1'0 24 C7+' 43 92 112 10 v 12 "14 6 Total (0, Free) 11 191 v21s 34 r89 '81 a2 f2; {so

Metal IonPresent Ma'gne- Manganese Nickel RE Stannous Vanadyl Zinc Zuco Sb Mercury+ Moles of Water of Hydration 2 1 1 ca. 2 4-5 2 1 4 1 z Ethylenefionverted. Percent- 90 43 56 56 91. 7 55 70 80 96 .Isope11'tane- .15 v19 -18 Total (Cl Free) 154 10 91 159 48" 121 66 96 '94 sence of .sulfate. Run .No. 3, wherein cadmiumsulfate IH Oand BF were"p'resei1t, produced aidepen'tauized alkylate productyieldof 216% based on ethylene Charged and resulted in the. conversion (or 87% of theethylene g n,

' Ruri 4 shows that -CdSO .1H O, in the absence of BB, gave no yield of alkylate. i

In Table No. II, there are set. out theresults of testing various'j metal sul fate'hydrates. 'These' datawere obtained under the approximate standard conditions utilized in bomb work. These standard conditioiisar'e 'approxi mately: I sobutane-ethylen'e mole ratio, 3, Bl /ethylene mole ratio, 0.7, 20'ho 1irs cout'acti gjtirne, temperature range, 20- C. an'dan initial fipresfsure Qof about 350 p. s.ji.' 'g. These runs show that 'o ily'a "very few sulfate hydrates are effective iii proiiiotir 'g'lflfi forisoparaflinolefin alkylation. Beryllium sulfate 2H O,'cadmium sulfate .',2H O; ma'gnesiur'riisulfate .'2H O are effective. :Cerou's. sulfate .hydrate '(Ce S'Q 'l3H O) is ery good; isiugly'th'e.cei'icisulfate hydrateis poor. A

mmercialmixtufe of rare earthsulfates" Flow runs were carried out using CdSO .1H O asthe hydratesalt. In the flow work, a fixedvbed reactor was used which w'a s providedwith an internal cooling tube. The solidi iieriiberfwas first ehargecl to the reaetor, then the reactor was evaeuated. was allowed'to flow into the reactor while the temperature was controlled at a point belowfSO C. The BE and salt were allowed to staridiuritilajconstarit BB pressure had been attained.

ln st'arti'ri'g a ruhgtli erea c'toriwas filled with' isobutane. Theri the puriip' 'was star't'cd, causing the premixed isobu- 'ta'ue' thylene'ibleu' I aw from 'the charge tank through the, .d rdow'riflow. 'th ough the reactor. BFgwas added coiitinuously "by 'absor fi'tion' in the feed just before the feed eutered thereactor. The reactor pressure was cohtr'olled rriapuallyfbyfa valve at "the reactor outlet. The reaetor fefilueiit'wa scrubbedby b bbling through a layer or st lled watefni e'bro duct r iver. The 'BF carried from' the reactor" thus rem-av d. Rea'ctor temperature wasp'biitrolleab an iriterrial'coolin'g' tube and when eorsliag'waterwas applied.

The" solidi-hemb'er consisted of Cd SO I-H O carried on silicon carbide; "The salt hydratecomponent forme 15 weight percent of the total solid member;

The results of runs 26 and 27 are set out in Table III. These runs show that the supported salt-BF pair gave a fair yield of ethylene-isobutane alkylate and also of butene-isobutane alkylate.

TABLE HI 26 27 Ethylene Butenc-2 Isobutane/olefln, mole ratio 3. 6 2. 8 Space Velocity, HC/Hr./Salt (wt.) 0.33 0. 49 BFw/olefin (added during run) 1.1 0.2 Temperature, O. 25-65 28-81 Pressure, p. s. i. g 280-320 200-210 Olefin converted Yields (Based on olefin charged) Ppntanpe 8 35 Hexanes- 72 (E -plus 38 128 Total 138 163 RUN 28 In this run, CdSO .H O was used as the salt hydrate in a batch run at 80 C. Operation at this temperature reduced the yield of alkylate, as compared with operation at 25-35 C. Whereas little pentane was formed at lower temperatures, a large yield of pentanes was obtained in this run. The conditions and results of this run are set out below:

RUN NO. 29

In run No. 29, toluene was reacted with ethylene using cadmium sulfate IH O and BF as the catalyst pair. The reaction was carried out in a one gallon stirred Monel autoclave. To the autoclave were charged 1778 grams of C. P. toluene, 90 grams of the salt and 96 grams of BF Over a period of hours, 236 grams of technical grade ethylene were added to the autoclave. The contents of the reactor were stirred for an additional half hour before settling and removal of the hydrocarbon materials. The conditions and results of this run are set out below:

Run No.

29 Sulfate CdSOrHzO 1 277 are, 26 meta, 477 ortho.

1 InfiaBed could not distinguish between mono-butyl and dl-ethyltoluene.

I approximate-based on pressure drop,

(l) isoparaflin having from 4 to 8 carbon atoms and (2) aromatic hydrocarbon and (b) an olefin having from 2 to 12 carbon atoms, in the presence of a catalyst comprising essentially (i) a metal sulfate salt containing water of hydration, the metal ion of said salt being from the classconsisting of beryllium, cadmium, cerous, magnesium, vanadyl, and a mixture of rare earth, and (ii) BF said BF being present in an amount in excess of about 1 mole per mole of water of hydration in said salt, at a temperature between about -30 C. and a temperature substantially below the temperature at which said hydrate salt decomposes, and at a pressure sufficient to maintain a substantial portion of said reactants in the liquid state, and separating a hydrocarbon product mixture containing alkylate product of said feed hydrocarbon and said olefin.

2. An alkylation process wherein an isoparaffin having from 4 to 8 carbon atoms and an olefin having from 2 to 12 carbon atoms are contacted, in a molarratio of isoparafiin to olefin between about 2 and 50, at a temperature between about -20 C. and 150 C. and a pressure between about and 2000 p. s. i., said pressure being at least sufiicient to keep a substantial portion of said reactants in the liquid state, for a time sufficient to permit an appreciable amount of alkylation reaction to take place, in the presence of a catalyst comprising essentially (i) a metal sulfate salt containing water of hydration, the metal ion component of said salt being selected from the class consisting of beryllium, cadmium, cerous, magnesium, vanadyl, and a mixture of rare earths, and (ii) boron trifiuoride, said BF being present in an amount in excess of one mole per mole of hydrate water present in said salt, removing a product hydro carbon mixture from said contacting zone and an alkylate hydrocarbon product is separated from said mixture.

3. The process of claim 2 wherein said isoparafiin is isobutane.

4. The process of claim 2 wherein said isoparaffin is diisopropyl.

5. The process of claim 2 wherein said olefin is ethylene.

6. The process of claim 2 wherein said olefin is pro" pylene tetramer.

7. The process of claim 2 wherein said sulfate is cad-- mium sulfate.

8. The process of claim 2 wherein said sulfate is cerous; sulfate.

9. The process of claim 2 wherein said sulfate is beryllium sulfate.

10. The process of claim 2 wherein said sulfate is magnesium sulfate.

11. The process of claim 2 wherein said sulfate is a mixture of rare earth sulfates.

12. The process of claim 2 wherein said temperature is between about 25 C. and 40 C.

13. The process of claim 2 wherein the ER, is present in an amount, in excess of 1 mole per mole of hydrate water, such that the free-B1 to olefin weight ratio is between about 0.2 and 1.5.

14. An alkylation process which comprises contacting isobutane and ethylene in a molar ratio of isobutane to ethylene between about 2 and 25 at a temperature between about 20 C. and 100 C. at a pressure between about 200 and 1000 p. s. i., said pressure being sufficient to keep a substantial portion of said reactants in the liquid state for a time suiiicient to permit an appreciable amount of alkylation reaction to take place, in the presence of a catalyst pair comprising essentially (a) a salt-B1 complex consisting of a metal sulfate salt containing water of hydration, the metal ion component of said salt being selected from the class consisting of beryllium, cadmium, cerous, magnesium, vanadyl, and a mixture of rare earths, and about 1 mole of BF per mole of hydrate water pres L50 11 '12 k n s sa a (b) erm trifi or d "i ia aa o 1, 11 pms e im 14 wherei ls idim zlifia such th 1hQw a t 5at q0 fi g zBfis methyle .c a e hyl newq htgratiois vb wq n-a p 1d- -las' ab u lQ r I m n p od cthydlt carbcnumixture containing alkyla telproduct from saidcon tagtiggzone References Cited in the' file ofi this pggqpt and separating alkylate hydro,carbo n prpduct (item up- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS reaaedlsobutaneand ethylene 2,404,788 Burk et a1. July 30, 1946 15. The process pfclaini 14 wherein gaid tenglperat1m: is between about 25 (C. and, 40? 7C. 

1. AN ALKYLATION PROCESS COMPRISING CONTACTING (A) AN ALKALATABLE FEED HYDROCARBON FROM THE CLASS CONSISTING OF (1) ISOPARAFFIN HAVING FROM 4 TO 8 CARBON ATOMS AND (2) AROMATIC HYDROCARBON AND (B) AN OLEFIN HAVING FROM 2 TO 12 CARBON ATOMS, IN THE PRESENCE OF A CATALYST COMPRISING ESSENTIALLY (I) A METAL SULFATE SALT CONTAINING WATER OF HYDRATION, THE METAL ION OF SAID SALT BEING FROM THE CLASS CONSISTING OF BERYLLIUM, CADMIUM, CEROUS, MAGNESIUM, VANADYL, AND A MIXTURE OF RARE EARTH, AND (II) BF2, SAID BF2 BEING PRESENT IN AN AMOUNT IN EXCESS OF ABOUT 1 MOLE PER MOLE OF WATER OF HYDRATION IN SAID SALT, AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN ABOUT -30*C. AND A TEMPERATURE SUBSTANTIALLY BELOW THE TEMPERATURE AT WHICH SAID HYDRATE SALT DECOMPOSES, AND AT A PRESSURE SUFFICIENT TO MAINTAIN A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF SAID REACTANTS IN THE LIQUID STATE, AND SEPARATING A HYDROCARBON PRODUCT MIXTURE CONTAINING ALKYLATE PRODUCT OF SAID FEED HYDROCARBON AND SAID OLEFIN. 